Such a sad story! We don't know what Amada did or did not do, but she was declared not guilty after spending 4 years in an Italian prison. In the USA she could not have been charged again after being released with a Not Guilty verdict- am I correct?

Such a sad story! We don't know what Amada did or did not do, but she was declared not guilty after spending 4 years in an Italian prison. In the USA she could not have been charged again after being released with a Not Guilty verdict- am I correct?

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Correct, and sources say the US could refuse extradition on this basis. I'm not sure I support holding US citizens to US legal standards when they are in other countries, but I do think the Italian courts have been essentially a clown car on this case.

I feel horribly for them both. Thank goodness she is here but she will never be able to leave the country for fear of other countries extraditing her. I suppose there are far worse countries to be stuck in.

but I do think the Italian courts have been essentially a clown car on this case.

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That's a perfect description of this fiasco. Same thing when the Italian courts sentenced six scientists to six years in prison (and a $10 million fine) for not predicting the earthquake that struck L'Aquila in 2009. But then again, it took nearly 400 years for the Pope to express regret on the way Galileo's case was handled.

I feel horribly for them both. Thank goodness she is here but she will never be able to leave the country for fear of other countries extraditing her. I suppose there are far worse countries to be stuck in.

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Really a small price to pay for her safety.....

What a mess all of this is. I can't imagine, though, that the Italian courts in reversing a not guilty verdict would have much sway to extradite her.

That's a perfect description of this fiasco. Same thing when the Italian courts sentenced six scientists to six years in prison (and a $10 million fine) for not predicting the earthquake that struck L'Aquila in 2009. But then again, it took nearly 400 years for the Pope to express regret on the way Galileo's case was handled.

I feel terrible for Amanda. All the evidence is completely circumstantial. I do not understand, for a moment, how a court could actually convict her. I do believe that she made some bad choices, but I think she already served time for those. I don't think she had a hand in murdering Kercher at all.

I think Rafael was kind of nuts to stay in Italy while this was a possibility.

I don't know where he could have safely gone, but ... I would not want to be him right now. Obviously I don't think they committed the crimes they are accused of.

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I don't know if this actually happened but there could be a couple of possible scenarios - 1) he did not have a passport, although it's so easy to travel in Europe that it's hard to imagine he did not have one, 2)After his first conviction, may be they took away his passport so he won't try to run to another country- I don't know what Italian laws are for a convict, 3)even if he had the passport with him, it would have been difficult for him to get through airports to escape to another country, once he was charged with murder (and after his conviction).

I feel even more sorry for Rafael than for Amanda. At least she is in a safe place- in her home country, free, and with her family. I doubt that the US govt will extradite her, particularly after seeing the whole circus. There is no way she can get a fair trial in Italy.

Yes. But why should he, or would he flee the country? it would have made him look guilty. I really don't think anyone should be fleeing their country to get out of a murder trial. What kind of freedom is living on the run?

LOL at all the 'Poor Amanda!' handwringing! . Oh well, she can make plenty of money appearing on Oprah now.

I'd rather save my sympathies for the Kercher family thanks!

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Yep! People are in prison all around the world for things they didn't do...and the US isn't an exception. How many men have been executed and then proven innocent? Amanda did make some bad decisions and I don't think the evidence is there that she OR Rafael did it, but she's made a fortune while the Kercher family couldn't even all afford plane fares to go to the trial. In all this legal and media circus, let's not forget a murder did happen and an innocent girl died.

Circumstantial evidence can bring about a conviction if there is enough of it and it all points to the person being guilty.

Amanda Knox deserved her time in prison for her perjury and falsely accusing someone else of committing the murder. Anybody who does something like that deserves what they get.

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I agree with the latter sentence. As to the circumstantial evidence...we could only speculate about the verdict that would have been reached in another legal system, but it's pretty sketchy. The fact the court of appeal threw it out last time because the evidence didn't stack up spoke volumes, and this new trial has changed the alleged motive to one that hadn't been completely shattered by the court of appeal. The only issue is...there's still no DNA evidence and the motive is sketchy at best. I doubt they did it, but they're the only ones who really know.

I'm astounded that more weight hasn't been given to the fact that Rudy Guede had his sentence reduced for implicating Amanda and Rafael. But really? He implicated them in the same way she tried to implicate another - to pass off guilt and get out of a heftier sentence. The forensic evidence suggests he did it alone and then lied to save himself.

Yep! People are in prison all around the world for things they didn't do...and the US isn't an exception. How many men have been executed and then proven innocent? Amanda did make some bad decisions and I don't think the evidence is there that she OR Rafael did it, but she's made a fortune while the Kercher family couldn't even all afford plane fares to go to the trial. In all this legal and media circus, let's not forget a murder did happen and an innocent girl died.

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And if Amanda is innocent, which many think she is (myself included), then none of that is her fault. People seem to think that Amanda should spend the rest of her life locked up in a room feeling horrible for the Kercher family. Amanda has made some bad decisions and has never been one to come across as very remorseful but if I were wrongly convicted and went through this entire mess, I might have a hard time being too remorseful for anyone else as well. It is horrible that the Kercher died but it is also horrible that a young girl has had her life ruined. As for the $$$, why shouldn't she make money while she can? Her family spent millions defending her and getting her out of that country and going to visit when she was in prison. She is trying her best to recoup that. She knows more trials are to come and those aren't going to be free. She needs to make all the money she can.

Yep! People are in prison all around the world for things they didn't do...and the US isn't an exception. How many men have been executed and then proven innocent? Amanda did make some bad decisions and I don't think the evidence is there that she OR Rafael did it, but she's made a fortune while the Kercher family couldn't even all afford plane fares to go to the trial. In all this legal and media circus, let's not forget a murder did happen and an innocent girl died.

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Executed and proven innocent? Not that many, actually, unless you go further back in history. But the Innocence Project does have a long list of people who were exonerated after being falsely convicted, some of whom died in prison or not too long after being released, and I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I don't know enough about this case to say anything about Knox's guilt or innocence, but I am inclined to be sympathetic first of all to Meredith Kercher's family. Still, if Knox is indeed innocent, it doesn't matter if she's a nice person or not - spending years in jail for something you didn't do sucks.

Executed and proven innocent? Not that many, actually, unless you go further back in history.

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1 is too many, IMO. There have been at least 3 cases I can recall in recent time where an innocent person was executed.

But the number of people who have been exonerated before they were executed is enough evidence to me that we shouldn't be executing. Those people were only NOT executed because of tireless work by others; how many people does that not happen for?

If Knox is innocence, I absolutely feel horrible for her. Feeling badly that someone's life has been ruined doesn't mean you don't also feel horribly for the girl who lost her life and her family who has had to deal with it. If Knox was not involved she should not be made to suffer just because Meredith's family needs closure. She has already served her time for lying.

In law school, I did a lot of work on innocent defendants and the whole "phenomenon" of how innocent people get convicted in the US. Many of them confessed after being subjected to duress, or were implicated by others who had been subjected to duress, or were implicated by solid witnesses who really believed they were the one that did it, when in fact they weren't.

So based on what I learned, I am not inclined to think someone who lies to the police during an intense interrogation or after an intense experience to be a person of bad character. It is nothing like a lie in the course of a normal day. Sometimes it's not even affirmative statements but repeating what the interrogator stated in hopes that would bring the process to an end. After what I've learned, I can't even view it as an indication of guilt. It's all very messy.

Is there a limit to the number of trials that could be held under Italian law? How long could this go on?

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As far as I understand it, the way it has played out:

The initial conviction had to be vacated after the DNA evidence was proven to be unreliable. So the case went to the Court of Cassation, which has decided to send it back to trial. The trial ended with a guilty verdict. Knox and Solecito are lodging an appeal and the case is going to go to the Italian Supreme Court, which is the highest instance, and its verdict will be final.

1 is too many, IMO. There have been at least 3 cases I can recall in recent time where an innocent person was executed.

But the number of people who have been exonerated before they were executed is enough evidence to me that we shouldn't be executing. Those people were only NOT executed because of tireless work by others; how many people does that not happen for?

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Who are you referring to? I know there were doubts about Troy Davis's guilt, but nothing conclusive. Cameron Todd Willingham was most likely innocent, though, since he was convicted of murder by arson and evidence points to there being no arson. Anyway, I agree, one is still too many, and you read about cases like that of Anthony Graves (also here) and it's clear that some people were convicted and sentenced to death on the flimsiest of evidence. But even if there weren't so many exonerations, I'd still be opposed to the death penalty.

Who are you referring to? I know there were doubts about Troy Davis's guilt, but nothing conclusive. Cameron Todd Willingham was most likely innocent, though, since he was convicted of murder by arson and evidence points to there being no arson.

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Okay, I had to go search and see if I could figure out the names of the people since I was only remembering their cases: Carlos DeLuna, Cameron Todd Willingham, and Johnny Garrett were the ones I was thinking of.